Method and apparatus for encoding/decoding

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a multimedia data encoding/decoding method and apparatus. The encoding method includes generating a data area including a plurality of media data areas; and generating a media information area including a plurality of track areas corresponding to the plurality of media data areas, respectively. According to the present invention, the multimedia data encoding/decoding method and apparatus has an effect of being capable of constructing a slide show by only a small amount of multimedia data. Thus, a time taken to process and transmit the multimedia data can reduce.

This application is a National Phase entry of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2006/004126, filed on Oct. 13, 2006, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), 120 and 365(c) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/725,655, filed on Oct. 13, 2005, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/725,652, filed on Oct. 13, 2005, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/726,230, filed on Oct. 14, 2005, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/757,463, filed on Jan. 10, 2006, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/787,173, filed on Mar. 30, 2006, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/788,736, filed on Apr. 4, 2006 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/789,876, filed on Apr. 7, 2006 in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for encoding/decoding multimedia data including a video, an audio, and a text, and more particularly, to an encoding/decoding method and apparatus for sequentially reproducing a plurality of media data, thereby constructing a slide show.

BACKGROUND ART

There occurs a drawback in that a time required for encoding/decoding and a time required for data transmission increase because of a very large amount of data in a multimedia data processing method for integrating and encoding/decoding various formats of media data such as a video, an audio, and a text.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a feature of the present invention to provide a multimedia data structure for efficiently encoding/decoding multimedia data, and a multimedia data encoding/decoding method and apparatus using the same.

Technical Solution

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, there is provided, among other things, an encoding method.

In another aspect, there is provided, among other things, a decoding method.

In a further another aspect, there is provided, among other things, an encoding apparatus.

In yet another aspect, there is provided, among other things, a decoding apparatus.

In still another aspect, there is provided, among other things, a multimedia data structure.

According to at least these aspects of the present invention, a multimedia data encoding/decoding method and apparatus has an effect of being capable of constructing a slide show from a small amount of multimedia data. Thus, a time required to process and transmit the multimedia data can be reduced as compared with other methods and/or apparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like numerals refer to like elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an entire structure of multimedia data according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a multimedia data structure according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a multimedia data structure according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a multimedia data structure according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates timing information on a plurality of media data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a construction of an encoding apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a construction of a decoding apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an encoding method according to the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a decoding method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in a more detailed manner with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an entire structure of multimedia data according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The file type area represents a format of a multimedia data file, and can be expressed in a form or version of the multimedia data file. For example, it can represent that the format of the multimedia data file is an MPEG-4 version 2 format when a file type is “mp42”.

The data area includes a plurality of media data areas. Each of the media data areas includes media data. FIG. 1 shows that the data area includes first, second, and third media data areas. But, the data area can also include four or more media data areas or two or less media data areas. The media data areas can include several types of media data such as image data, audio data, or text data. The image data can be still picture data or moving picture data.

The media information area has information on the media data included in the data area. Referring to FIG. 1, it is desirable that the media information area includes a plurality of track areas that correspond to the plurality of media data areas included in the data area, respectively. In detail, the media information area can include a first track area, a second track area, and a third track area. The first track area has information on the media data included in the first media data area. The second track area has information on the media data included in the second media data area. The third track area has information on the media data included in the second media data area.

The track area included in the media information area can have timing information for sequentially reproducing the media data included in the corresponding media data area, thereby constructing a slide show. For example, the first track area can have information on a duration for reproducing the media data included in the first media data area.

For example, when the media data is music data, its corresponding track area can include musician information or musical composer information.

FIG. 2 illustrates a multimedia data structure according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Media information area can include track areas corresponding to media data areas, respectively, and a meta area. The track area can be comprised of a media area and a track meta area.

The meta area is included in the media information area at the same level as those of the track areas. The meta area includes information on the media data included in the data area. The information is information on an attribute for distinguishing the plurality of media data from each other. Desirably, the meta area includes identification (ID) information and position information on the media data. More desirably, the meta area can include name information, contents type information, ID, position information, and size information on the media data.

The following is an example of media data information included in the meta area. In this case, the first media data area includes the N number of JPEG image data, and the second media data area includes MP3 audio data, and the third media data area includes text data.

MP3 item_ID = 1 item_name = <rel. url to mp3> content_type = audio/mp3 JPEG 1 item_ID = 2 item_name = <rel. url to jpeg 1> content_type = image/jpeg ... JPEG N item_ID = N+1 item_name = <rel. url to jpeg N> content_type = image/jpeg Text item_ID = N+2 item_name = <rel. url to text> content_type = text

The meta area includes a first meta area and a second meta area. The first and second meta areas can share and include information on the media data. For example, the first meta area can include name and content type information on the media data, and the second meta area can include physical position and size information on the media data.

A handler type of the meta area can be designated to “lsr1” and used.

Referring to FIG. 3, a meta area can include an animation area having information on an animation effect to be applied to media data. The animation area can include at least one of grouping information on the animation effect, and size information, opacity effect information, and geometrical transform information on the media data to which the animation effect is applied. The grouping information represents a combination of the animation effects to be applied to the media data. The size information describes a variation of an image size when the media data is image data.

The opacity effect information describes an image fade-in or fade-out effect. The geometrical transform information describes effects of transition between images, image scale transform, rotation, and skew, and the like.

The animation area can include information on a motion path of an image or information on motion paths of objects included in the image. The animation area can include image color change information or image form information. The image form information can be a rectangle, a circle, an oval, a line, a polyline, a polygon, and the like. The animation area can include attribute control information for controlling the attribute of the media data, to realize several animation effects applicable to the media data.

As shown in FIG. 4, a meta area can be positioned on a file level, not included in a media information area. In other words, a multimedia data file can be comprised of four areas: a file type area, the meta area, a media information area, and a data area.

The animation area can use a language such as Light-weight Application Scene Representation (LASeR), Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), or BInary Format for Scene (BIFS), to describe animation effect information. The LASeR, SVG, or BIFS can be realized in an eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) format or a Binary encoded format.

The following is an example of the animation effect information expressed using the SVG, and expresses the opacity effect information, the scale transform information, and the size variation information.

<svg> <g id=“Article_Image”> <animate attributeName=“opacity” calcMode=“linear” values=“0.00;1.00;1.00;1.00;1.00;1.00;1.00;1.00” dur=“8.0” repeatDur=“indefinite”/> <animateTransform attributeName=“transform” type=“scale” additive=“sum” calcMode=“linear” values=“1.00 1.00;1.00 1.00;1.00 1.00;1.00 1.00;0.50 1.00;0.00 1.00;1.00 1.00” dur=“8.0” repeatDur=“indefinite”/> <image width=“200” height=“150” #sampleID = 1 > </image> </g> </svg>

A symbol (<) signifies a start, and a symbol (>) signifies an end. A symbol (/) signifies an end of a context to be defined. For example, a context of <svg> to </svg> is a bundle, and a context of <g id=“Article_image”> to </g> is a bundle, and a context of <image width=“200” height=“150” #sample=1> to </image> is a bundle. The “g” denotes a group and the “Article_image” represents a name of the group (g) in the <g id=“Article_image”>. The “opacity” and “transform” are names of animation attributes or animation effects. The “opacity” and “transform” represent opacity effect and geometrical transform, respectively. A symbol (sum) represents a sum of the animation attributes. A symbol (dur) represents information on the duration for reproducing the image data. A symbol (infinite) signifies indefiniteness.

In case the image data is regarded as one sample, an image to be realized by the image data (#sampleID=1) having an identification number (ID) of ‘1’ has a width of 200 and a height of 150 in size. The animation effect information expresses an animation effect of linearly (calcMode=“linear”) indefinitely repeating (repeatDur=“indefinite”) a non-opacity variation for the image data (#sampleID=1) from a full non-opacity (value=0.00) to an original non-opacity (value=1.00) during eight seconds (dur=“8.0”). Also, the animation effect information expresses an animation effect of linearly (calcMode=“linear”) indefinitely repeating (repeatDur=“indefinite”) the size variation (“transform, “scale”) of the image data (#sampleID=1) from an original image size (value=1.00) to a half of a horizontal-direction size of an image (value=y; x=1.00; 0.50) during eight seconds (dur=“8.0”). Also, the animation effect information depicts simultaneous implementation (additive=“sum”) of the two animation effects.

The image data comprised of one or more samples is distinguished from each other in a chunk unit. The samples can be arranged in a temporal sequence at each chunk. Each sample included in the chunk has its inherent identification number (ID). The inherent identification number (ID) of each sample can be given starting from ‘1’. The image data (#sampleID=1) having the inherent identification number (ID) of ‘1’ represents, not data itself, its sample.

Referring to FIG. 2, the track area can include the media area, and the track meta area. The media area includes the timing information for sequentially reproducing the media data, thereby constructing the slide show.

The track meta area includes the information on media data.

The timing information on the media data refers to information on the duration or a sequence for reproducing the media data on a timeline. It is desirable that all the media data included in the data area are dependent on one timeline. In other words, it is desirable that the timing information on all the media data included in the data area are expressed on one timeline.

Each of the media data has separate timing information. Thus, the durations of reproducing the media data, respectively, cannot be inherently consistent with each other.

The media area can include a first area having the reproduction duration information on the media data; a second area having the position information on the media data; and a third area having the size information on the media data. The media data to be reproduced can be searched using the position and size information included in the second and third areas.

The timing information on the media area can be expressed using the language such as the LASeR, the SVG, or the BIFS. The LASeR, the SVG, or the BIFS can be realized in the XML format or the Binary encoded format.

The timing information on all the media data included in the data area can be included in one media area, for example, the media area of the first track area. Alternately, the media areas can have the timing information on the corresponding media data, respectively. In other words, the media area of the first track area can have the timing information on the first media data, and the media area of the second track area can have the timing information on the second media data, and the media area of the third track area can have the timing information on the third media data.

The track meta area can include information for distinguishing the media data from each other. In other words, the attribute information on the media data can be included in the meta area of the media information area, or included in the track meta area of the track area. In case where the information is included in the meta area, the information on all the media data included in the data area are desirably included in one meta area. In case where the information is included in the track meta area, the information on each media data is desirably divided and positioned in the track meta area included in the corresponding track area. Also, the track meta area can have information on the animation effect.

FIG. 3 illustrates a multimedia data structure according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The data area can include an image data area, an audio data area, and a text data area. The media information area can include a slide show area having information on image (or slide show) data, an audio track area having information on audio data, and a text track area having information on text data.

The image data included in the image data area can be still picture data or moving picture data. The image data can be data compressed in a format of Joint Picture Expert Group (JPEG), Moving Picture Expert Group (MPEG)-1, 2, or Advanced Video Coding (AVC). In other words, the image data can be data such as various formats of video clips or photographs acquired by a device (not shown) such as a camcorder (not shown) or a portable terminal (not shown).

The audio data included in the audio data area can be music data, accompaniment data, or voice data. The audio data can be data compressed in a format of M PEG Layer-3 (MP3) or Advanced Audio Coding (AAC). Alternately, the audio data can be a result obtained by synthesizing the accompaniment data and the voice data. The accompaniment data can be data expressed by only a musical instrument sound excluding a musician's voice in music.

The text data included in the text data area can be data having a character string distinguished in a line unit. In this case, each line can be treated as a sample.

FIG. 5 illustrates timing information on a plurality of media data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. An image data area has six pieces of image data, and an audio data area has three pieces of audio data, and a text data area has four pieces of text data.

As shown in FIG. 5, the media data are dependent on one timeline, but have timing information separately. Therefore, reproduction durations may not be consistent with each other. It is desirable that each of the media data included in the media data area has reproduction duration information, position information, and size information.

A media area of a slide show area can have all of the reproduction duration information, the position information, and the size information on the six pieces of image data, the three pieces of audio data, and the four pieces of text data. In another exemplary embodiment, a media area of a slide show area has reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on six pieces of image data. A media area of an audio track area has reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on three pieces of audio data. A media area of a text track area can have reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on four pieces of text data.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a construction of an encoding apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The encoding apparatus includes a file type area generator 100, a media information area generator 110, a data area generator 120, and an output unit 130.

The file type area generator 100 generates a file type area representing a format of a multimedia data file (Step 300). The media information area generator 110 generates a media information area including information on media data, for example, timing information on the media data included in a data area (Step 310). The data area generator 120 generates a data area including a plurality of media data areas (Step 320).

A sequence of generating the area in the encoding apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is merely one example of an operation of the encoding apparatus according to the present invention. Thus, it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The area generation sequence can be modified, or two or more areas can be simultaneously generated in parallel.

The output unit 130 constructs the generated file type area, media information area, and data area as one file, and outputs the encoded multimedia data (Step 330).

A description of the file type area, the media information area, and the data area is the same as the above description and thus, will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a construction of a decoding apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The decoding apparatus includes a data input unit 200, a timing information extractor 210, an animation effect information extractor 220, a media data extractor 230, and a reproducing unit 240. An operation of the decoding apparatus shown in FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a decoding method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The data input unit 200 receives multimedia data (Step 400). The timing information extractor 210 extracts timing information on media data from the received multimedia data (Step 410). It is desirable that the timing information extractor 210 parses a media information area from the received multimedia data and then, extracts the timing information on the media data from a media area included in the media information area.

The media data extractor 230 extracts the media data to be reproduced depending on the extracted timing information from a data area (Step 420). It is desirable that the media data extractor 230 searches the data area for the media data, using size information and position information on the media data included in the media area.

The reproducing unit 240 sequentially reproduces the extracted media data using the extracted timing information, thereby constructing a slide show (Step 430).

In case where there exists animation effect information in an animation area, the animation effect information extractor 220 parses the animation area, and extracts the animation effect information. The reproducing unit 240 can reproduce image data included in an image data area, using the animation effect information. In addition, the reproducing unit 240 reproduce audio data and text data, using the timing information extracted by the timing information extractor 210.

The encoding/decoding method according to the present invention can be programmed for execution in a computer and stored in a computer readable recording medium. The multimedia data having the data structure according to the present invention can be also stored in the computer readable recording medium. The computer readable recording medium includes all kinds of storage units storing data readable by a computer system. The computer readable recording medium is exemplified as a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Compact-Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and an optic data storage unit, and includes a unit realized in a format of carrier wave (e.g., Internet transmission). The computer readable recording medium is dispersed to the computer system connecting thereto through a network, and can store and execute a computer readable code in a dispersion method. Function program, code and code segments for realizing a user tracking method can be easily inferred by programmers in a technological field of the present invention.

As described above, an encoding/decoding method and apparatus according to the present invention can be widely used for a multimedia player or a multimedia coding device for reproducing a plurality of media data, thereby reducing a time taken to process and transmit the multimedia data.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. 

1. An encoding method, implemented by a processor, comprising: generating a file type area having information on a file format of multimedia data; generating a data area comprising a plurality of media data; and generating a media information area comprising a slide show area and an audio track area corresponding to image data and audio data in the data area, respectively, the slide show area including a media area and a track meta area, the media area of the slide show area including reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on a plurality of image data, each reproduction duration information, position information, and size information in the media area of the slide show area being allocated for each image data in the data area; wherein the image data and the audio data in the data area are dependent on one timeline, the multimedia data includes a file type area having information on a file format, data area, and media information area, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes meta information on the image data and the audio data, respectively, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes XML format data on the meta information, and the track meta area of the slide show area includes title information of a group of the plurality of image data in the data area.
 2. The encoding method of claim 1, wherein the media area of the slide show area comprises a first area, a second area, and a third area each having the timing information, position information, and size information on the media data.
 3. The encoding method of claim 1, wherein there exists the timing information on each of the plurality of media data.
 4. A decoding method, implemented by a processor, comprising: receiving multimedia data, the multimedia data including a file type area having information on a file format, a data area comprising a plurality of media data, and a media information area comprising a slide show area and an audio track area corresponding to the image data and audio data in the data area, respectively, the slide show area including a media area and a track meta area, the media area of the slide show area including reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on a plurality of image data, each reproduction duration information, position information, and size information in the media area of the slide show area being allocated for each image data in the data area; parsing the multimedia data, the media information area of the multimedia data being parsed first; extracting timing information related to the reproduction duration information from the media area of the slide show area of the media information area reproducing the image data and the audio data in the data area using extracted timing information, wherein the image data and the audio data in the data area are dependent on one timeline, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes meta information on the image data and the audio data, respectively, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes XML format data on the meta information, and the track meta area of the slide show area includes title information of a group of the plurality of image data in the data area.
 5. The decoding method of claim 4, wherein the track area of the slide show area comprises a first area, a second area, and a third data area each having the timing information, position information, and size information on the media data.
 6. The decoding method of claim 4, wherein there exists the timing information on each of the plurality of media data.
 7. An encoding apparatus comprising: a processor coupled to a memory; a file type area generator for generating, via the processor, a file type area having information on a file format of multimedia data; a data area generator for generating, via the processor, a data area comprising a plurality of media data of multimedia data; and a media information area generator for generating, via the processor, a media information area comprising a plurality of track areas corresponding to the plurality of media data areas, respectively, the slide show area including a media area and a track meta area, the media area of the slide show area including reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on a plurality of image data, each reproduction duration information, position information, and size information in the media area of the slide show area being allocated for each image data in the data area; wherein the plurality of media data comprised in the data area are dependent on one timeline, wherein the multimedia data includes the file type area having information on the file format, data area, and media information, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes meta information on the image data and the audio data, respectively, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes XML format data on the meta information, and the track meta area of the slide show area includes title information of a group of the plurality of image data in the data area.
 8. The encoding apparatus of claim 7, wherein the media area of the slide show area comprises a first area, a second area, and a third data area each having the timing information, position information, and size information on the media data.
 9. The encoding apparatus of claim 7, wherein there exists the timing information on each of the plurality of media data.
 10. A decoding apparatus comprising: a processor coupled to a memory; a data input unit for receiving, via the processor, multimedia data, the multimedia data including a file type area having information on a file format; a data area comprising a plurality of media data areas; and a media information area comprising a slide show area and an audio track area corresponding to image data and audio data in the data area, respectively, the slide show area including a media area and a track meta area, the media area of the slide show area including reproduction duration information, position information, and size information on a plurality of image data, each reproduction duration information, position information, and size information in the media area of the slide show area being allocated for each image data in the data area; a timing information extractor for parsing the media information area from the received multimedia data and for extracting the timing information related to the reproduction duration information from the media area of the slide show area of the media information area; and a reproducing unit for reproducing the image data and the audio data area, via the processor, using the extracted timing information, wherein the image data and the audio data in the data area are dependent on one timeline, and each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes meta information on the image data and the audio data, respectively, each track meta area of the slide show area and the audio track area includes XML format data on the meta information, and the track meta area of the slide show area includes title information of a group of the plurality of image data in the data area.
 11. The decoding apparatus of claim 10, wherein the track area of the slide show area comprises a first area, a second area, and a third area each comprises a first area, a second area, and a third area each having the timing information, position information, and size information on the media data. 